Students Empowered at Powershift

Nearly 30 Colby students were among an estimated 10,000 student activists and environmental leaders who gathered in Washington last week for the third Powershift, a grassroots training event focused on environmental issues, especially climate change.

Speakers included former Vice President Al Gore and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson. Workshops and lectures were held through the weekend, followed by a culminating march through the streets of the capitol.

“The energy was incredible,” wrote Kaitlyn Bernard ’14, in an e-mail after the event. “Just seeing the size and enthusiasm behind the environmental movement was a huge inspiration to be more active and actually initiate change!”

Philip Nyhus, associate professor of Environmental Studies, said he and others in the program were proud of the Colby students who attended Powershift, joining with their counterparts from across the country to call for solutions to the world’s pressing environmental problems. “It will take the inspiration, energy, hard work, and leadership or our nation’s young people to tackle these challenges,” he said.

A report on this year’s Powershift appears in Climate Wire, an online publication about environmental and energy issues and policy.